Agricultural Commodities

Principles of price determination; Price differences and variability; Pricing institutions; Introduction to empirical price analysis.

This book examines the issue of price volatility in agricultural commodities markets and how this phenomenon has evolved in recent years. The factors underlying the price spike of 2007-08 appear to be global and macroeconomic in nature, including the rapid growth in demand by developing countries, the international financial crisis, and exchange rate movements. Some of these factors are new, appearing as influences on price volatility only in the last decade. Although volatility has always been a feature of agricultural commodity markets, the evidence suggests that volatility has increased in certain commodity markets. A growing problem is that agricultural price shocks and volatility disrupt agricultural markets, economic incentives and incomes. With increased globalization and integration of financial and energy markets with agricultural commodity markets, the relationships between markets are expanding and becoming more complex. When a crisis such as a regional drought, food safety scare or a financial crisis hits a particular market, policy-makers often do not know the extent to which it will impact on other markets and affect producer, consumer and trader decisions. Including contributions from experts at the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the USDA, and the European Commission, the research developed throughout the chapters of this book is based on current methodologies that can be used to analyze price volatility and provide directions for understanding this volatility and the development of new agricultural policies. The book highlights the challenges facing policy makers in dealing with the changing nature of agricultural commodities markets, and offers recommendations for anticipating price movements and managing their consequences. It will be a practical guide for both present and future policy-makers in deciding on potential price-stabilizing interventions, and will also serve as a useful resource for researchers and students in agricultural economics.

The recent global financial crisis exposed the serious limitations of existing economic and financial models. Not only did macro models fail to predict the crisis, they seemed incapable of explaining what was happening to the economy. Policymakers felt abandoned by the conventional tools of the now obsolete Washington consensus and the World Trade Organization’s oversimplified faith in free markets.The traditional models for agricultural commodities have so far failed to take into account the uncertain character of the global agricultural economy and its ferocious consequences in food price volatility, the worst in 300 years, yielding hunger riots throughout the world. This book explores the elements which could help to close this fundamental modeling gap. To what extent should traditional models be questioned regarding agricultural commodities? Are prices on these markets foreseeable? Can their evolution be either predicted or convincingly simulated, and if so, by which methods and models? Presenting contributions from acknowledged experts from several countries and backgrounds – professors at major international universities or researchers within specialized international organizations – the book concentrates on four issues: the role of expectations and capacity of prediction; policy issues related to development strategies and food security; the role of hoarding and speculation and finally, global modeling methods. The book offers a renewed wisdom on some of the core issues in the world economy today and puts forward important innovations in analyzing these core issues, among which the modular modeling design, the Momagri model being a seminal example of it. Reading this book should inspire fruitful revisions in policy-making to improve the welfare of populations worldwide.

Chitosan in the Preservation of Agricultural Commodities presents a cohesive overview of research topics regarding the production and characterization of chitosan, the development of coatings and fi lms, its functional properties, and antimicrobial potential of this compound on economically important agricultural commodities. It includes the modes of action from a physiological, enzymatic, and molecular perspective, and evaluations of the activity of chitosan nanocomposites and nanoparticles in biological models. The first section deals with the chemical characteristics and functional properties of chitosan and new chitosan-based biomaterials intended for food preservation. The second section covers various aspects of the control achieved by chitosan on different microorganisms affecting various horticultural commodities, grains, and ornamentals, and its modes of action. The third section explores enzymatic and gene expression induction by chitosan application on fruit and vegetables; the fourth section offers insight on the use of chitosan nanocomposites in biological models associated with food conservation and control of microorganisms. Analyzes chitosan chemical and functional properties Explores obtaining, characterizing, and developing chitosan coatings and fi lms for agricultural use Presents functional properties, antimicrobial potential, and modes of action of chitosan from a physiological, enzymatic, and molecular perspective Includes biological models of the activity of chitosan nanocomposites and nanoparticles

"It is estimated that the world will need to produce as much food in the next forty years as it did in the past 8,000 years. Moving that food to where it is needed will require a massive investment in logistics, in port and transport infrastructure, as well as in distribution, processing and packaging networks within countries. Governments will not make those investments. Instead the task will fall on the world's investments. Instead the task will fall on the world's commodity trading (merchandising) companies. When most people think of agricultural commodity merchangs, traders and speculators, they imagine dubious characters manipulating markets and pushing up food prices for the world's poor. Few people understand what agricultural traders actually do, and how their markets function. This book is intended to at least partly correct that situation. It is aimed at students, journalists, legislators, regulators, and at everyone who would like to learn more about the sector."--Quatrième de couverture

A comprehensive resource for understanding the complexities of agricultural finance Agricultural Finance: From Crops to Land, Water, and Infrastructure is a pioneering book that offers a comprehensive resource for understanding the worldwide agriculture markets, from spikes in agricultural commodity prices to trading strategies, and the agribusiness industry generally to the challenges of feeding the planet in particular. The book also goes in-depth on the topics of land, water, fertilizers, biofuels, and ethanol. Written by Helyette Geman—an industry expert in commodity derivatives—this book explores the agricultural marketplace and the cycles in agricultural commodity prices that can be the key to investor success. This resource addresses a wide range of other important topics as well, including agricultural insurance, energy, shipping and bunker prices, sustainability, investments in land, subsidies, agricultural derivatives, and farming risk-management. Other topics covered include structured products and agricultural commodities ETFs; trade finance in an era of credit shortage; securitization and commodity-linked notes; grains: wheat, corn, soybeans; softs: coffee, cocoa, cotton; shipping as a key component of agricultural trade; and the major agricultural shipping routes and the costs. The book: Offers the first comprehensive resource that deals with the all aspects of agricultural finance Includes information that is crucial for pension funds, asset managers, hedge funds, agribusiness corporates, CTAs and regulators Covers a range of topics from agricultural bunker prices, futures, options to major shipping routes and the costs This text is a must-have resource for accessing the information required to trade successfully in the agricultural marketplace.